Taking an object image with a digital camera has a problem that the dynamic range of the image taken is narrower than in the case of using a silver-salt film camera. To solve this problem, in the digital camera disclosed in JP-A-2000-138868 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,784,935), an image having a wide dynamic range is taken by combining first image data obtained through shooting with long-term exposure and image data obtained immediately thereafter through shooting with short-term exposure.
In the digital camera disclosed in JP-A-2004-222184 (US 2004/0145672 A1), a half of a large number of photoelectric conversion elements (pixels; arranged like a two-dimensional array) of a solid-state imaging device are large-area, high-sensitivity elements and the other half are small-area, low-sensitivity elements. The dynamic range of an image taken is increased by combining an image produced by the high-sensitivity elements and an image produced by the low-sensitivity elements.